Life, Synonym: "Challenge"

We all know that life isn't easy. It's a given.

But there are times when events occur and you see afresh just how crazy, strange, and difficult this mortal existence we stroll through really can be.

I lost a good friend and mentor this past week. My high school cross-country coach. Daric Beiter. A man I don't think I fully appreciated till he was gone. Taken at a young age. Gone peacefully to a better place. Leaving us with a memory.

Daric Beiter 1974-2011

Death is a strange thing. It happens thousands if not hundreds of thousands or millions of times a day on this planet, but how often do we humans really dwell on it? I submit that it is quite a small number in comparison.

Then it hits close. We begin to dwell. We turn to God. To family. To friends. This life no longer seems like the endless road it sometimes seems. Suddenly, it's just a small little country road. Fortunately for us, when the little, dusty road ends, we then hit the limitless highway we were heading to the entire time. Coach Beiter took his exit earlier than we thought. There's still so much ahead to learn. He's started a new journey. Best of luck Coach! And many prayers to your dear wife and family. For those who might be struggling with a death of a loved one, check out the video my mom posted on her blog.

And what about us still down on this country road we call the mortal existence? There are bumps and ruts that pervade the path ahead of us, some going through bigger bumps and deeper ruts than the rest of us. How do we handle those? Take two people that I've had the wonderful privilege of meeting in the past few days. Marius. Stephanie. Two individuals who've gone through so much. Click their names to see their stories. We can truly learn from their examples on how to deal with trial and tribulations in our lives. I know I certainly took away a new attitude.

NaNoWriMo

It's November! Halloween has come and passed. I hope each of you had a great one, I know that I sure did.(The one in the middle, with President Thomas S. Monson's face on it? Yep I helped carve that)

November. That means two months left in the year. Two months.

NaNoWriMo. Another word for November. Don't know what that means? Look like a bunch of letters to you? Stands for National Novel Writing Month. And guess who's taking part in it. Yep, that would be myself.

30 days. 50,000 words. One novel. That is the challenge. It's kind of frightening and invigorating at the same time. I'm pretty sure I can make it happen. It'll require some later nights and less free time, but hey that's all good with me. Just saying that I wrote a novel in 30 days would be a pretty cool accomplishment.

So I'll keep you updated, okay? Okay.